Transcript Joint Committee on co-ordination of technical assistance

Joint Committee on
co-ordination of technical assistance
to Developing Countries in Metrology,
Accreditation and Standardization
(JCDCMAS)
Building corresponding technical infrastructures
to support sustainable development and trade in
developing countries and countries in transition
JCDCMAS members
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Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM)
International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation (ILAC)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
International Trade Centre – UNCTAD / WTO (ITC)
Telecommunication Standardization Bureau of ITU (ITU-T)
International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Technical infrastructure
To achieve sustainable development and to participate in
international trade, countries need the following technical
infrastructure:
• Metrology – to ensure traceability of measurements and
calibration of measuring instruments
• International documentary standards – national position,
international promotion, national implementation
• Conformity assessment – to assess goods and services
to mandatory and voluntary requirements
• Accreditation & peer assessment – ensure that claims of
conformity are credible and internationally recognised
Active participation in international metrology, standardisation
and accreditation organisations is an essential element of
capacity development
Metrology and physical standards
• National measurement Institutes develop, maintain and
disseminate standards appropriate to national needs
• National measurement standards provide the basis for
services such as:
– calibration
– trade metrology
– conformity assessment
– accreditation
The Metre Convention
• Inter-governmental treaty (1875)
• 51 Member States, 18 Associates
• Works on matters of world metrology, especially the
demand for measurement standards of ever increasing
accuracy, range and diversity, and the need to
demonstrate equivalence of national measurements
• Provides international infrastructure for Members to
develop standards at whatever level is needed,
facilitating their international recognition and acceptance
• It is therefore relevant to countries at all stages of
technical development
• International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM),
Sèvres, France
CIPM Mutual Recognition Agreement
(1999)
• International recognition and acceptance of national
measurement standards, calibration and measurement
certificates
• Basis for wider agreements on international trade and
regulatory affairs
• MRA + national traceability system gives evidence of
equivalence of measurements
• Economic analysis by KPMG estimated impact on
reducing TBTs of >4 billion USD
• MRA gives international recognition of measurements
made by accredited testing and calibration laboratories,
leading to ILAC-CIPM MoU (2001)
International Organisation
of Legal Metrology
• Inter-governmental treaty organisation (1955)
• 60 Member States, 53 Corresponding Members
• Technical work carried out by 80 technical committees
coordinated by the International Committee of Legal
Metrology (CIML) and the Organisation’s secretariat, the
International Bureau of Legal Metrology (BIML)
• Produces International Recommendations – model
technical regulations, and a model law on metrology
• Permanent Working Group on Developing Countries
directs practical actions for developing countries
– Expert Reports, simplified verification instructions, equipment
OIML Certificate System and
Mutual Acceptance Arrangement (MAA)
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Certificate System operating since 1991
Avoids duplication of testing of measuring instruments
1400 certificates covering 41 instrument categories
MAA approved in 2003: voluntary framework for
acceptance and use of type approval test reports
• Separate Declaration of Mutual Confidence (DoMC) for
each instrument category
• First DoMCs covering non-automatic weighing
instruments (R 76) and load cells (R 60) should be
signed in 2006
• Work started on next categories of water meters (R 49)
and fuel dispensers (R 117/R 118)
International documentary standards
Voluntary international standards are important in
sustainable development through the promotion of safety,
quality and technical compatibility
International standardisation organisations in JCDCMAS:
• IEC – electrotechnology
• ITU-T – telecommunications
• ISO – nearly all other technical fields, service sectors,
management systems and conformity assessment
International standards:
• Assist in operation of domestic markets
• Increase competitiveness
• Excellent source of technology transfer
• Consumer and environmental protection role
Trade-related challenges for
developing countries
Developing countries need access to standardization
infrastructures to engage in the global trading system
Increasing globalization of markets means international
standards (as opposed to regional or national standards)
are needed to ensure:
•a level playing field for exports,
•that imports meet internationally recognized levels of
performance and safety
Categories of standards
Standards can be broadly sub-divided into three
categories:
•product standards
characteristics (quality, safety, etc.) that goods should possess
•process standards
conditions under which products and services are to be
produced, packaged or refined
•management system standards
assist organizations to manage their operations. Help create
framework to allow the organization to consistently achieve
requirements set out in product and process standards
International Standards and the WTO
The TBT Agreement encourages use of international standards
 Members must reference international standards in regulations
 Encourages members “wherever possible” to:
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develop mutual recognition agreements
harmonize conformity assessment procedures
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accept the conformity assessment procedures of other members
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The Agreement's 2nd Triennial Review highlighted:
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the importance of wider participation in international standardization
activities, to ensure good regulatory practice, conformity assessment
procedures and standards
the inability of developing countries to participate due to limited resources,
membership costs, lack of qualified personnel, location of meetings
the importance of developing countries' participation in the development of
international standards to ensure their global relevance, thus preventing
unnecessary barriers to trade
Conformity assessment
Conformity assessment procedures (testing, inspection and
certification) offer assurance that products fulfill requirements
specified in regulations and standards. They may:
apply to a product, a service or a management system
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be 'first party' (supplier's declaration of conformity (SDoC))
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be 'third-party' (by a government or private company)
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Conformity assessment plays a critical role in sustainable
development and trade and developing countries must decide:
what types of conformity assessment are needed and for what purposes.
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whether conformity assessment is mandatory (regulations in specific sectors),
or whether to rely on market determined conformity assessment requirements.
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based on a risk assessment for a particular product or process,
and on an understanding of the impact the associated costs and
benefits will have on achieving sustainable development
If conformity assessment
requirements differ:
• Products may need duplicate or different testing, or multiple
inspections
• Products may be denied market access if:
– testing procedures or results are not recognized
– tests were performed by someone who is not in a peer assessment
scheme or who is not accredited
• Additional certification will increase costs for exporters
• Barriers to trade may occur, effectively keeping some
producers out of certain markets
A 1996 OECD study showed that the cost of standards, technical
regulations, testing and compliance certification, is between 2
% and 10 % of overall production costs
Accreditation
“third-party attestation related to a conformity assessment body
conveying formal demonstration of its competence to carry out
specific conformity assessment tasks” (ISO/IEC 17000)
•Depends on peer evaluation of technically competent facilities
that consistently apply appropriate technical and management
principles of international standards and guides (ISO/CASCO)
•Helps provide the necessary confidence among users of
conformity assessment services (business and government)
•Accounts for the growth of mutually recognized conformity
assessment services throughout the world
•Helps provide assurance that suppliers of tests and certificates
are competent
•Helps in overcoming trade barriers and in complying with the
requirements of the WTO TBT Agreement
Importance of accreditation for
developing countries
"…verified compliance, for instance through accreditation, with
relevant guides or recommendations issued by international
standardizing bodies shall be taken into account as an indication
of adequate technical competence." Section 6.1.1 of the TBT Agreement
•i.e. use of an accreditation system reduces the possibility of goods being
denied access on the basis of inadequate conformity assessment
For developing countries:
•Lack of access to accreditation programmes prevents full integration into the
world trading system
•The absence of an accreditation service is recognized as a development
priority
•Developing an accreditation infrastructure is daunting if a government does not
have the knowledge, experience or financial resources
•Systems have been successfully developed in the Pacific Accreditation
Cooperation (PAC) and the Southern African Development Community in
Accreditation (SADCA)
The composite approach to
development assistance
• Holistic consideration of a country's needs
• Plan of action is then agreed
• Assistance coordinated and synergies between parts of the
technical infrastructure established, which strengthen the
technical infrastructure, enabling it to contribute the country's
sustainable development and trade potential
• Each part of the technical infrastructure is interdependent:
– Metrology and physical standards are basis for accurate measurements
– international documentary standards state their accepted performance
– these then are the basis for conformity assessment activities
– these activities can then be accredited, peer assessed or both
However ...
• The cost of providing all of these activities at their most
advanced level is prohibitive
• Even in developed countries the sophistication varies between
parts of the technical infrastructure
• Parts of the infrastructure are often jointly owned or shared
between one or more countries, or services of another country
are relied upon
For sustainable development and trade purposes it is important:
• to ensure that societies and industries in developing countries
have a technical infrastructure that reflects their needs
• to effectively participate in global trading activities, including
participating in international organisations' work
JCDCMAS Recommendations
To provide for a composite approach to developing technical
infrastructures, the JCDCMAS members recommend that
assistance be based on:
•thorough needs assessment of the economy (including domestic, societal or
import sectors, and trade and export sectors)
•understanding that there is no ready-made model for technical infrastructures
(components, sophistication, delivery). Developing countries must decide on this
and give ongoing political commitment
•careful consideration of the needs and assistance to ensure new technical
infrastructures are sustainable and planned
•identifying the resources needed to sustain the infrastructure
•remembering that bi-lateral or regional options may give better economies of
scale (but must take account of historical, political and cultural sensitivities)
Conclusions
• The JCDCMAS was established to improve the coordination of
assistance to developing countries in the areas of metrology,
accreditation and standardization
• International specialist organizations with technical expertise
and funding agencies must work together to strengthen and
improve the effectiveness of technical infrastructure capacity
building
• Collaboration with partners is the key to efficient use of
resources and to long term, sustainable development
• Effective development assistance needs a coordinated
approach, that is demand-driven and a country-owned process
undertaken in partnership with aid agencies